Stevenston Higher Grade 1960-1970

[morag]

Stivis wrote: I'll take this opportunity to say, what an inane load of books you had to read , absolute poxy books, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm and a host more, tie that in with Shakespeare ....none of it stimulated knowledge or thought ..

I'll disagree on this.

Think I dated Bonner a coupla times...by that time he was no longer teaching at higher grade.

[stivis]

I would have thought essays of say Gore Vidal or something like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance(absolutely nothing to do with Buddhism or Motorbikes) would have been better at least at discussion level
Brighton Rock ....there's another one.......I pointed out in the previous post , you dare not have critisised or worse said you didn't like them
Every time I think of the languages at Stevenston ,It conjures up the Scarfe video of Another Brick in the Wall

John Dunlop in some respects the cleverest man in the school, in that he said 30 plus years ago what was going to befall the area and Britain,he also gave me enough knowledge go to Historical sites and know the background how countries evolved

[stivis]

another English teacher,Tall fair haired with glasses,(White???) went on to be deputy head of Ayrshire Education,

Probably his name was (Donald) MacLean

[Dunaskinblue]

Can't believe I forgot Auld Miz - Mrs Milne who taught French. She also taught my mother who's now in her 80s. Although she was nearly retirement age when she taught me, she certainly hadn't lost her reputation as a bit of a battleaxe.
Also Mrs Hinshelwood - Latin. She too was elderly (at least she seemed so at the time , tho probably was the age I am now). She had a shaky voice and greeted the class every day with "Salvete". Her shaky voice rose as she said it so we would all respond "Salve" in equally shaky voices and shook our bodies as we sat down.
Mrs Stewart was the gym teacher who taught the girls.
Great memories from my time at Stevenston High in the mid 60s

Ah, Miss Hinshelwood (as I knew her), bless her. The kids nicknamed her "Swivel". "Salve....salvete"....thanks for reminding me, as I couldn't recall her name.

When I left Stevenston High at the end of 1967, Bob Stratton was the head teacher. Formidable presence.

I happened to meet Mr. (Robert) Bonner in George Square in November 2009, immediately recognising his face and after a little exchange he put a context and a name to it for me. We had a good old chat, although he never actually taught me. He was living in Kilmacolm then. A likeable wee chap, with a good sense of humour.

I was taught by two Mr. McLeans, father and son, the former being the principal History teacher and the latter being the principal English teacher at the Higher Grade..........and yes, he did go on to greater things.........if I recall perhaps Director of Education for Ayr Division in the Strathclyde days (although I might be wrong). Mr. McLean Snr. was a true historian in every sense and although he taught the curriculum, he appreciated that my little head was more concerned with real history.......we could relate on that level.

Strange that I couldn't wait to get out of school, yet look back on most of it fondly now.

[stivis]

Father and son were John Dunlop and Lex Dunlop,
but McLean was the one who deputy director...If he went further I don't know

And I still think

John Dunlop in some respects the cleverest man in the school, in that he said 30 plus years ago what was going to befall the area and Britain,he also gave me enough knowledge go to Historical sites and know the background how countries evolved

[Dunaskinblue]

Yes, I remember the name Lex Dunlop, but not John as such, although your description does make him sound like the man I knew, who was willing to share so much about the bigger picture. It must then be these men I have in mind.

I was wondering aloud earlier if Mr. McLean had in fact been Deputy Director........still an important position given we were talking about Ayr Division, as opposed to a third of what we have now.

[stivis]

Lex was John Dunlop's son (he was known as Johnnie Dunlop) he stayed quite near Pipe Banks and Johnnie Johnstone(Ex football player and Maths teacher)
John Dunlop taught History,Geography and English

Lex was English only